Ello again my dears, I just want to say thank you for the reviews.

Please tell me what you think, I want to hear your opinions and feedback, but I will have to say if you are only here to flame please find something else to read. This is fan-fiction after all.

I just want to say that I'm sorry for the delay. This chapter was hard to write, I was trying to find a way to explain things properly without regurgitating the whole magic explanation. I hope I did a good job I'm not too sure about this chapter, but I thought you guys deserved an update.

Chapter 11

A Little Song Bird

The master bedroom of the Blackwood household was shrouded in darkness. The fire having died down to ash in the wee hours of the morning left the room dark and cold. Hidden underneath the last dredges of warmth in the room was a head of black hair, surrounded by a nest of warm blankets.

Slowly the young wizard began to rouse from sleep. Uncurling from his fetal position, he stretched his limbs as far as they would reach. Pausing mid-stretch Evander became more aware and felt the bed with his right hand. Feeling the rest of the bed he noticed that there was one less body and he frowned when he noticed the bed was cool.

Sitting up right his grey eyes peered into the dark, he did not see his mother anywhere. Though pausing in his search, he took a deeper breath. His nose filling with the wonderful smell of bacon.

Feeling a slight rush of energy he was climbing off the bed quickly before hustling off to his own lavatory. Standing in front of the sink, he began to brush his teeth so he may join his mother downstairs.

Eyeing his reflection in the mirror, he frowned at the nest of hair that had formed during the night. Sadly his hair was always a righteous mess in the morning, it always took some time to correct it to his liking.

As the wizard in training finished brushing his teeth and washed his face to wake up more, a slight shiver ran up his spine at the various cool temperatures he was exposed to. Slightly grumpy Evan concentrated on his core, wanting his magic to warm his clothes.

Feeling a surge of heat, the young magic user released a sigh of contentment.

With that settled he set himself to the momentous task of taming his hair. With a sigh he snatched up the hairbrush from the sink cupboard and began his final grooming ritual.

It was a few minutes later that he took a step back and gave his reflection a once over. Happy with the result he quickly left the bathroom to descend down the stairs.

Making his way down Evan followed the smell of breakfast and when he entered the kitchen he was met with Anna, his mother and an unknown woman who had features matching Anna.

As they chatted amongst themselves Evan observed the new woman in their home. She had obsidian black hair that shone like silk and dark, dark eyes the color of pitch.

She also seem to hold herself the same way his mother did, an elegance reserved for a select few of high society. But flashes of last night swiftly came back to him when he came to the conclusion of who she was.

It was the same woman who was incapacitated in the living room at 2 am in the morning mummified, and he was pleasantly surprised to find her not covered in filth.

"Good morning Evander."

Focusing his eyes on his mother instead of the oriental mummy he replied.

"Morning mother, good morning Anna."

Annabelle Zhu had woke up with a start this morning. The vampire found herself sitting in a chair next to an empty bed, with a slight crick in her neck. Massaging her neck she yawned as she recalled the previous night's events and early morning. Running her fingers through her hair she found it to be a bit of a mess.

The immortal oriental had tirelessly kept vigil over her mother's condition and when it appeared that her mother was whole once again, did she help clean her up. Once freshly showered, Anna helped her mother into fresh clothes before letting her sleep.

Standing up, she quickly came down to the kitchen to find her mother and friend in a stare down.

Watching the two go back and forth, Anna thought on the fact that things were never simple and even her tireless planning of her mother's release, she found more than she had expected.

What she had not been expecting was the fact that her friend was a witch. But not an ordinary run of the mill witch that she was used to. Oh no, Selene it would appear was not a servant of Nature and neither was Evan.

The green-eyed beauty was of a different breed altogether as she and her mother had discovered. For the proof was right in front of them, freshly whipped cream, waffles, eggs and bacon suddenly appearing without preamble. The female vampire had never seen that before. Even without an explanation did she realize that things will never be the same.

Selene smiled at her son, before she began to introduce their newest guest. "Evander this is Anna's mother Pearl, they are vampires."

Evan's eyes seem to enlarge at the statement, almost frowning at his mother's declaration before narrowing. He believed her but at the same time not...

"Mother...it's daylight.." Selene almost chuckled at her son's tone of ludicracy, almost being the key word because if even a sliver of a crooked smile made its way onto her face, it would leave her with a pouting ten year old, he had a major dislike of being had.

"I know love, I was puzzled as well, but they are a different species altogether compared to the vampires of the magical world."

Turning her attention back on the older immortals, there was a curious glint shining in her green eyes. The witch wanted to learn all their secrets, reminding her of herself and Hermione's need to learn everything about the magical world and all that came with it when they were but small girls.

"If you do not mind me asking how is it you can walk in sunlight? Is that a trait of your species? My friend Sanguini did not mention that tidbit."

Anna and Pearl shared a glance between each other before looking back at Selene before turning their eyes on Evan with a weighing gaze.

Catching the by play the witch took another sip of her warm tea before speaking. "If you are worried about Evander knowing do not be bothered by it. Evander is quite good at keeping secrets."

Anna nodded her head, deciding to trust her friend's judgment. Considering that for 500 years the only person she was trusting of was her mother, it was a big step and a realization that she trusted her fellow brunette.

"We have daylight jewelry which are made by the witches that we are familiar with. They protect us from the harmful light of the sun and allows us to blend in more."

The younger vampire waved her hand to show the piece of jewelry in question. The ring was made of silver and had an oval cabochon cut lapis lazuli. The rich blue hues of the ring seem to cause the ring to shine in a way that caught Selene's attention.

"My mother has her necklace, we never take them off."

Anna set her hand down before reaching for the fruit bowl before scooping some onto her mother's plate. "You need to eat Momma. It will help some."

The immortal witch smiled at the pair before producing a familiar vial filled with red liquid.

"Here Pearl, you are due for another dose of the potion, this should help until I can gather some sustenance for you."

Pearl turned her attention towards their host before she smiled in thanks, gently extracting the crystal vial from the witch's hand.

The mother vampire opened the vial before downing it. It was not as satisfying as blood but it did the trick, the coppery taste was slightly satisfying with its resemblance to blood. Without the elixir Pearl knew without a doubt that the process of undoing the damage of desiccation would be much more agonizing without it.

"May I see your hand Anna?"

Quirking a brow, Anna with little care extended her hand to lay it on top of Selene's own, her palm pleasantly warm against the cooler skin of her own hand due to the lack of tea.

Watching Selene's long slender fingers wrap around her hand Anna remained silent as moments passed by. When the vampire decided to look up she watched as Selene's bright eyes hooded closed and her pretty lips forming into a smile.

Normally if a witch ever physically touched her they would freeze up and tension would tighten their eyes and mouth. Disdain usually followed due to a 'bad feeling' or vision. But her friend seemed to be slightly buzzed. Which in her wizened opinion was odd.

"What is it?"

Selene let the magic that animated Anna flow through her and released a relaxed sigh. Her skin was smooth and cool to the touch but the death magic felt lovely to her senses and she felt the vampire's age. The magic was like a fine wine, and with the consumption of wine always leads to a lovely buzz. Now that Selene was paying attention she could feel the well of Death magic. It was at least 500 years old and left the immortal witch with a slight high.

Shaking her head to break the invisible connection, Selene released the female vampire's hand. Smiling the green eyed witch reassured her friend.

"Nothing bad I promise, it's been awhile since I've been around a vampire, let alone one your age. My friend Sanguini I have not seen in a few years but he is quite old and he is the ambassador for the vampire clan he belongs to. I can feel your lifeforce, all the magic that keeps you alive until now is quite heady."

The younger vampire smiled before it morphed into a self-deprecating frown as she explained the way things went. "Usually witches can feel if a person is a vampire or not due to the spirit magic that created us. It sends a feeling or vision through touch, they see death... Nature's servants find us to be abominations against nature herself. Though from the legends of our birth it's more like they are ashamed and show disdain from what their magic has created."

Selene frowned at the explanation, theses witches seemed to have similar prejudices as the populace of the wizarding world. There was still some that found magical creatures to be below wizards. But with her victory led change for the better it also helped that her and allies had a large voting block in the Wizengamot.

Evan set his fork down on his now empty plate. Quite stuffed as he was, he left the talking to the three women at the dining table. Preferring to keep silent and just listen the young wizard tried to let the information process.

Evan remembering that he wanted to feed the plants this morning quickly put his dirty dishes in the sink and opening the refrigerator he plucked up a bag filled with chunks of bloody meat. Bag in hand he made a beeline for Anna and tugged on her arm, he wanted her to come with him. If he was late the plants would try and devour each other.

"Come on."

She looked down curiously at the bag clutched in his hand before she was almost dragged away from the table. Deciding that she liked her hand where it was quickly followed after Evan away from the kitchen and into the Solarium.

Anna, still in a daze with new information stood and let the younger male drag her much farther into the Solarium than she has previously explored. They quickly left their mothers to themselves.

"I am a witch while Evander is a wizard."

"We live in a hidden community away from muggles. Muggles are non-magical humans. The reason why I'm not alarmed by the fact that you are vampires is because while the Wizarding community has a slight aversion to Dark Creatures they also have mutual respect as a fully sentient and cognitive beings as our laws dictate.

Our magic is apart of our very being we were born with it, now the majority of the magical world uses wands to wield magic. To create and destroy, change and bend the laws of physics. The world is our playground. Now every country has its own laws the statute of secrecy forbids us from telling a muggle about our magic.

I have books that can tell you about our world. It's simply magical."

Anna looked at her mother before turning back to her friend.

"What kind of magic can you do?"

Selene smiled "All sorts of course, spells, hexs, curses, rituals, potions like the one I gave your mother. Charms and transfiguration as well, I'm a bit more special than a normal witch of course, so the sky's the limit for me."

Pearl spoke up, "We have met witches before you, what makes you different to the servants of Nature? "

"I know a challenge when I hear one, all right then." Reaching for her teacup that was next to her she placed it in front of her instead, it was smooth black porcelain that shined when the light hit it.

With both hands she gently picked up the small teacup before covering it with her cupped hands.

Smiling she blew a gentle breath into her hands before she ever so slowly unfurled her fingers. As the witch's hand pulled back instead of a black teacup there was a tiny black song bird looking back at them. Its head tilting from side to side as it observed its surrounding in curiosity before hoping off its perch and onto the table soft little chirps leaving its beak.

The two Asian vampires eyes were wide in shock as their eyes followed the little avian avidly.

Looking around she felt her brain turn slightly fuzzy before a moment later gained clarity once more. She did not remember there being another section.

Hearing a strange noise Anna almost ran into Evan's back. Coming to a halt the young Blackwood stood in front of what appeared to be a variety of thorny bushes moving in what appeared to be a tangled mess.

Hearing growls, as well as rattles and a cacophony of noise, Anna watched in curiosity as Evan extracted a bloody chunk of meat with his fingers and threw it at the plants.

Right before her eyes the plants all seemed to come to life and try and fight over the piece of meat. It wasn't until a vicious strike from the plant on the right that she swore she saw teeth as it snatched the piece into what appeared to be a 'mouth'.

She would not admit it but she was glad there was no one to witness to the fact that she was hiding behind Evan.

"The one on the left is a Venomous Tentacula, the one in the middle is Snakevine, and Mum's favorite Nefertiti.* A very distant cousin 5 times removed gave Selene a clipping on inheriting the title of Lady for our house."

Anna was amazed, so many plants, and just from the small glimpse of their lives, It really was a whole new world of wonder.

So that's the end of this chapter, so sorry for being gone, like I said it was quite a challenge to write this and I honestly don't know if I like it or not. Please tell me what you think.

Until next time,

Beau